In a rough cut, Shuck is sent to Minors

Cowgill makes the Angels' 25-man roster, as do Stewart and Shoemaker

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- Mike Scioscia has had a lot of tough conversations on the final day of cuts over his last 15 years as a Major League manager, and the one he had with J.B. Shuck on Saturday night ranks among the hardest.

"That's about as tough as it gets," Scioscia said of informing Shuck he would start the season in the Minor Leagues, with Collin Cowgill making the team as the backup outfielder. "J.B. had a terrific season for us last year, had a great Spring Training. But if you look at the balance of our team and our bench, J.B. was not going to be getting many at-bats without someone going down right now. And if someone goes down, he'll have the ability to come back up and play. That's where we are right now."

Shoemaker is normally a starter, but he made the team thanks to a fantastic spring -- 3.09 ERA, 12 strikeouts and one walk in 11 2/3 innings -- and his ability to temporarily provide length out of the bullpen.

The Angels put their 40-man roster at 39 players by selecting Stewart's contract, and Scioscia likes his versatility.

"He's really a good defender at third base, he's very comfortable at first base and he's played a lot of second base, too, so that versatility will help," Scioscia said. "As far as his swing, you could see as the spring moved on that his swing kept getting better and better and he's really put a charge into balls his last 20 at-bats."

Shuck came out of nowhere to win a job off the Angels' bench last spring, then proceeded to have a very solid rookie season while getting plenty of playing time due to Peter Bourjos' injury. He batted .293 and posted a .331 on-base percentage while leading American League rookies in plate appearances. And he turned in one of the best catches in Angels history, falling into the stands in left field to rob Toronto's Jose Bautista of a home run.

But when the Angels traded Bourjos, it was Kole Calhoun who won the everyday job in right field. And when it was time to make a final decision on the roster, it was Cowgill who won a job off the bench.

Shuck declined to speak to the media upon leaving the Angels' clubhouse.

"Collin has a couple things that gave him the edge over J.B. right now as we start the season," Scioscia said. "One, you talk about the right-handed bat, that's an absolute. I think the other is his versatility in the outfield, being able to play left field and right field is important in a number of areas. Being able to play right field will allow Kole Calhoun the freedom to play first base at any time. It adds depth in many other positions. J.B. was more limited to left field."

Past contract differences don't get in way of Trout deal

ANAHEIM -- In hopes of locking up the game's best all-around player, the Angels faced an uphill battle of sorts with Mike Trout's agent, Craig Landis.

In March 2013, the Angels refused to abandon their service-time-heavy compensation system for pre-arbitration players, giving Trout only a 6 percent raise and angering Landis.

Nearly 13 months later, the two sides came together on a six-year, $144.5 million extension.

And what happened in late February, when the Angels went outside of their system to pay Trout a pre-arbitration-record $1 million in 2014, helped that get done.

"Mike was past it a week after it happened last year and it never affected the way he felt or treated anybody -- but it registered with him," Landis said. "So he appreciated it this year, when they made an exception with him. All the players want to feel like they're appreciated. It's not just the money. Appreciation goes a long way."

With Trout coming off unanimous selection for the American League's Rookie of the Year Award and a runner-up finish for Most Valuable Player, the Angels -- free to determine his salary as long as it was at least the then-minimum of $490,000 -- paid Trout $510,000 for 2013. Landis responded by emphasizing in a statement that the compensation was "not the result of a negotiated compromise" and that the salary "falls well short of a 'fair' contract."

"The only time in 21 years I ever complained about a pre-arbitration guy was Mike last year, because I felt that it was extraordinary and that an exception should be made," Landis said. "They felt differently, and so we differed on that one. This year, they felt like, 'Yes, we do have to make an exception because it's just not right.' I think it helped some. Just because they gave us that did not mean that we were going to do a multiyear deal with them. But it didn't hurt."

Worth noting

• Lefty reliever Sean Burnett, still recovering from August forearm surgery, has thrown full-intensity bullpen sessions while incorporating all of his pitches in two of the last three days. He's set to face hitters in a simulated game for the first time at Angel Stadium on Tuesday or Wednesday.

• Asked if it was a relief to get Mike Trout's six-year, $144.5 million extension done before the start of the regular season, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said: "There's all kind of things that can become distractions, and obviously contracts can play into that. But I don't really think that it would've gone that far with Mike."